A Cold Night (A Bughead Fan Fiction)
by bigolgrandmagmail.com
Summary: Jughead hasn't been a great person to Betty lately, but she needs a co-worker for the Blue and Gold. She asks him, what happens next?
1. The Beginning

*~A cold night~*

A Riverdale/Bughead AU

~Betty's POV~

As I got dressed in the morning I was thinking about the Blue and Gold. I needed a partner to help me write. It's not like I can make an entire school newspaper once a week on my own. I needed help, but none of my friends were good authors-well, other than Jughead, of course, but we weren't friends anymore-I betrayed him. He wouldn't trust me until the day he died. (a/n which he didn't, but wouldn't that be dramatic) I got dressed, and walked down the stairs, grabbed a waffle, and asked my mom to tell Archie I already left if he comes by, since I'm going early for the blue and gold.

As I was organizing papers on my desk, I texted Jughead to come down to the office real quick so I could tell him something.

Their Conversation:

Betty: Jug? I need to talk to you at the blue and gold office. Will you come down please?

Jug:...

Jug:Sure. Why? I've got more time on my hands then you ever did. Correct?

Betty:Please Jug. I don't want to argue with you about this stupid thing that happened 2 years ago. Please. I'll tell you why when you get here.

Jug:Fine. Meet you there in Five minutes.

Betty: cool. I'll finally get to talk to you.

~Jughead's POV:~

It was early, but of course, I was already at school reading the blue and gold newspaper. Betty's writing was wonderful. So was she, but he couldn't let her know that. So when/if I ever talk to her it has to be a snarky or sarcastic comment. I'd much rather see her from a distance and keep a grudge from an argument that happened 2 years ago then embarrassing myself very badly. Then I got a text from her. I was not ready to talk to her, and most likely wouldn't be for a while, but now was the time to be incredibly mean and most likely hurt her feelings. She asked me to meet her at the blue and gold? That was a new one. Though there wasn't really one to compare it to.

~FIVE MINUTES LATER~

"Hello?" I said, trying not to stutter or trip over my words.

"Oh! hey Juggie! Before I say this, I'm hoping that you won't yell at me for expecting you to say yes. I don't, but please, please don't yell at me." At that moment I realized how mean I'd been. "Betty-I-I'm so sorry. I can't tell you why now, but I swear, I don't mean the comments that I say. I swear." I said, letting out the breath I didn't know I was keeping in. "what? I didn't quite catch that. Never mind. Let's just get this over with. Do you want to join the blue and gold?"

she sighed, not hearing what I had said. "Yes! Thank you! I bet I could improve your amateur writing." I said, having to include a rude comment. "Yeah right. That's why I hired you. Duh." She included, Adding one back. "ayy! you're catching on!" I cheered. "And, you know that I don-" The bell rang leaving me and her mid conversation. "Awe, frick. The first genuine conversation with my best friend in years, and interrupted by school?!" I had to yell, since I was ahead of all of my classes, there was no point to school at this point.

She sighed, obviously hoping I would call her my friend all the time, but now, my friends are Toni, Sweetpea, and Fangs, who cared and are loyal to me.

Just like she was.

~Betty's POV~

After school that day, I went back to the blue and gold. I needed to start writing for the newspaper today, because I only had 6 days since the last one was over due, and yes, I know. That wasn't like me. I should've gotten it in early, but Archie wanted me to go to his stupid football game. After six months of dating, you would think it was still fine, but I've come to the conclusion that Archie is a massive player and is cheating on me with Veronica. We are very on again-off again, and when we break up, Veronica is always there for him. That is very suspicious.

That evening I went to the White Wyrm as a 'date' with Archie, but it wasn't technically a date because Jughead, Cheryl, and Toni were there. I didn't really care though because our dates are little, short, and far between. Jughead seemed to ignore us for the most part, and hat was very odd to me, because Archie and Juggie were best Friends. I wonder what happened between them? Archie seemed to be glaring at Jughead the whole time, and whenever he looked at Jug, he wrapped is arm around me tighter. Also very suspicious. I was very confused the whole time, but I had some nice conversations with Cheryl and Toni. I needed to let off some steam from Archies "behavior" so I asked to go outside.


	2. The Phone Call

Chapter 2

~Jughead's POV~

I could tell Betty was uncomfortable with Archie's hand around her throughout their date. He had only invited me to show off his relationship to me, even though I'd probably already be here (the White Wyrm) pondering my life choices. I regret not telling Betty my feelings for her before the relationship with Archie, but it's definitely to late now. You could tell she was happy to be with the guy of her dreams, and I was happy for her.

Anything that made her happy, made me happy. Hence my friendship with Archie, mainly based on his relationship with Betty. I made sure I'd always be there for Betty. (a/n I know that sounds creepy, but I swear it's not.) If he ever hurt her, I will definitely be there to protect her from him, but so far, they were fine.

Assuming all was well for the night, I started slowly walking out the door, making sure not to disturb the couple. Betty seemed like she needed to go to the bathroom more than hating on Archie, so I assumed all was well. Alas, she walked out as I was just leaving the parking lot.

"Jughead? I thought you were in the bathroom. You definitely weren't in the lounge where we were. Are you alright walking? I could tell Archie was being a d*ck, and I'll tell him off for that, but it's only-" she cut off to check the temperature. "It's only 27 degrees. (Fahrenheit) I'll drive you." and she muttered under her breath these words, "Anything to get away from the guy who tried to pull me apart the guy who I just talked to today (in a nice conversation) for the first time in two years," and then a big sigh escaped her mouth. he could only tell because of the vapor that condensed the moisture of her mouth. Then out of nowhere as I was over thinking all the bad or good things that could happen during the drive home she blurted half looking half at him, "I loved him! He is obviously cheating on me with Veronica, telling from the flirtatious way he looks at her. He is such a fucking bitch!" As I had never, ever heard Betty cuss, I could tell how deep this anger ran.

I immediately ran over to Archie, Screamed at him in front of multiple serpents, and made him go talk to his girlfriend. He obeyed, after much begging, but it was to late.

Betty Cooper had left the White Wyrm, leaving two men standing there, waiting until she came back. More so, hoping, that she would come back.

~Betty's POV~

As I ran home, crying, I realized the thing I was missing wasn't a partner in writing, it was a partner in life. Not in a romantic relationship, of course, though she did plan on breaking up with Archie. Hopefully breaking his heart, like he did to her. She needed a friend, other than Kevin, who was there, and very sweet, and great at relationship advice, but was Bfffr's with Veronica, whom she couldn't trust. (Best Friends Forever. Forever, Right?)

Jughead, who before the argument (two years prior) was almost like a guardian angel towards Betty. He always asked Betty if Archie was taking good care of her, but never pushed her to answer if they had recently split up (which they did a lot,) but was there for her, and always helped if Archie was being a d*ck. Which was ALL THE TIME, now that she realized it. He was constantly winking at girls like he was about to see them in bed later that week, which he also most likely did.

She saw a new light that night, about Jughead. After she thought about how he had raced into the bar to give Archie a piece of his mind on how not to treat Betty like a prize. She liked not being treated like a baby or a prize. She was much more than that, and Archie didn't realize that, but Jughead did.

Jughead could see the pain deep in her eyes when Archie didn't. He could tell she was sick before she would admit it so she wouldn't miss that test that she studied for until 1:30 at night, when Archie didn't care about her health.(Speaking from experience.)

He cared whenever Archie and her broke up, and always brought the right type of ice-cream. He slowly nursed her back to health when she broke her leg when they were in the second grade; she had a revelation that night.

She looked at the picture of her, Jughead, Archie, and Kevin, and she stared at the small smile on Archie's face that used to calm her down, but it didn't. She tried Kevin. Nothing. Then Jughead. She felt a little tingling sensation. A feeling she hadn't felt since she first kissed Archie. The love of her life at the time.

She saw that in Jughead, the gentleman, the starving artist, the writer that stayed up too late. She saw something in him that no one else saw in him. She saw hurt in the eyes that had bags to big to be on a sixteen year old. She saw pain from all the times his mom screamed, and hit him, before she left. But most of all, she saw love. Love that the teenager didn't want to show, so he could keep up his strong, yet loner/outsider appearance. He was a lot more complicated then she was anticipating, but she was excited to try and figure him out.

It all started with a phone call. The phone call that changed her life.


	3. The Ice Cream

Chapter 3

~Jughead's POV (uhh kind of. Also kind of third person. IDK what POV this is):~

He picked up the phone, but because he didn't have Betty as a contact, so he didn't know who was on the other end. Suddenly he heard Betty on the other side of the line, and she asked him to visit her through the window. (a/n during this story, Jughead was staying at Archie's house, so it was quick to come over.)

He obliged, asking if she wanted ice cream for the break-up, and she pleaded him not to; though he could hear the hunger in her voice. He would end up eating it.

He ran up to the ladder outside her house for Archie to usually climb up, but this time it was him, and he was ecstatic. He moved it over to her window, and started slowly climbing up it, making sure not to wake up her parents.

It was already 11:30, so he was sure it was about the break-up, because she rarely stayed up late, but he could hope it was about him.

When he reached the window, he knocked, slowly starting to grin because he could hear her very quickly picking up her spotless room. She opened her curtains, making sure it was him. Then once she saw him, she bit her lip, as she always does when she concentrates, then opened her window with as much force as she could.

She then greeted him as he climbed through her window, trying not to disturb her display of trophies she has from writing, sports, cheerleading, and many other things.

"Hey, Jug, I'm sorry for bothering you, I just needed emotional support." She sighed, knowing that sounded ridiculous. He tried to lift her spirits.

"Hey, it's okay. I've taken care of you before, haven't I? Look, it's that ice cream you 'didn't' want. I can always tell when you're lying. One of my many, many talents." He said, a mischievous grin on his face, he was genuinely happy for Betty to call him instead of Kev, or Vee, or any other one of her friends that he's seen her with lunch at school, or at Pop's.

"Yeah! The only reason I said no was because I didn't want you to have to pick it up on the way over here!" She practically squealed, making it known that she was very excited. She then grabbed the ice cream out of his hand, and smiled in the most adorable way, in his opinion.

"Hey!" He played along. "I wanted some of that! No fair!"

She then took the ice cream and ran out of the room, and he was confused, because her mom and dad were sleeping, but he didn't care. He immediately played along, grabbing his hat off his head so it didn't fall off later on. he dropped it on the floor and started chasing after her. He saw a glimpse of her while she quickly ran down the stairs.

"Haha! Got you!" He said, slipping down the stairs, almost passing her before grabbing the bucket of ice cream, running into the kitchen, grabbing a spoon, running to the couch, sitting down, opening the ice cream, taking the biggest bite of it she'd ever seen.

"Oh Noo! I can't let you take this opportunity from my ice cream!" She said, before slipping onto the couch, grabbing the bucket, turning on the sci-fi channel.

"Victory!" She yelled, though it was very hard to understand, because she had a mouthful of ice cream. She was also laughing very hard.

"Oh, No. Not next time. I'll be prepared." He smirked, not taking his eyes off of the screen.

She looked at him, missing the way they used to do this all the time. He somehow relaxed her, and it amazed her how she only figured this out now.

She suddenly realized how tired she was, and rested her head on his shoulder, slowly falling asleep.

~Jughead's POV~ (really this time)

I woke up in the morning from Betty getting up and shaking me.

"Jug!" she whispered, "You need to hide. My mom is waking up, and I can't risk getting in trouble again."

I nodded, taking note that I wasn't supposed to talk. She pointed to the closet underneath the stairs, and she told me she'd distract her for as long as possible until Alice left for work. He simply nodded at this, and started climbing into the small space, starting to feel a bit like Harry Potter. I was the kid who was bullied, We had similar messy hair, the people taking care of tus didn't actually care. And here I was, in the closet under the stairs. I was just still waiting for my ticket to Hogwarts.

As I heard someone leaving, Betty walked over to the closet, setting me free from the dust that is storage.

I coughed, and she asked if I wanted breakfast. Of course, I asked for Pop's. She raised an eyebrow, then agreed. We hopped in her car and were on our way.


	4. Note thingie

Hey guys! thanks for reading my fan fiction. Sorry for the short chapters. I am very impatient, uhh, so I want to get it done as fast as possible. And the last chapter wasn't really necessary except for the building of Betty and Jug's relationship. I just really hope you like he entire story.

I am nowhere near done.

I basically just started.

Follow me on my Instagram: bughead4lyfe11

-bigolgrandma (I'm als onot an adult yet so I don't know why that's my name.

(Sophie)


	5. The Conversation at Pop's

Chapter 4

~Jughead's POV~

"So... Why were you so mean to me? I don't think it was because I ditched you when you were waiting for me. You do know it was because Archie made me, right?" Betty Cooper asked, making sure not to push the question.

"I-I can't tell you that quite yet. But I can say that I didn't mean any of those things. I always believed in you, Betty Cooper." I said, being intentionally vague. "I did know Archie made you. He told me about six months ago. I-uh-I guess I sounded quite petty, Didn't I?"

She giggled at my joke which made me very happy, because all of the kids on the varsity football team, including Archie Andrews, always said my self deprecating couldn't last in their righteousness. They were obviously the best people ever. Of course. I would never, ever think otherwise. (a/n he is being sarcastic btw)

"Yeah. I actually thought you couldn't give up the fact that I missed out on our Saturday lunch, even though, every day after that, you didn't join, and I had to find my own books instead of your suggestions. I was, of course, devastated. I could barely walk... Barely live..."

She laughed, which made me smirk, because I never thought of her as a person who laughed at their jokes, and as one of those people, I knew that reaction was just to make up for the fact that no one else usually laughed at her jokes. I laughed to make up for that.

"Anyway, this is the only place I've eaten for the past 2 years," I joked, hoping she didn't understand the real meaning of that comment. But, of course as the Nancy Drew/Daughter of a journalist she is, she did figure it out.

"Is everything okay at home?" She questioned.

I sighed, "Not really, my dad is on a low again," then closing my eyes for the judgement she was going to throw at me. Surprisingly, there was none.

"Oh. Do you want to stay at my house? My mom may not mind..." She thoughtfully planned.

"Yeah right. The son of FP Jones? A Southsider in general? The kid who wears a crown shaped beanie everywhere? Yeah right. I'm not so sure."

"True. Are you still at Archie's? I hope not."

"Yeah. Have you broken up with the bitch yet?" I joked, but I could see the pain in her eyes. "Oh, I didn't mean-"

"No, Jug, he is a bitch." My eyes widened, because I didn't know she cussed this much. "I do have to break up with him."

Of course, right after she said that, Archie Andrews and Veronica Lodge walked into Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe.

Betty scowled at his sight, before trying to hide by ducking her head.

"Can he see me?" she questioned

"No. He's busy making out with Veronica." The last part just slipped out, honest.

"WHAT!?" She immediately stood up, and walked over to him.

She then slapped him, much to his surprise.

"Betty?!" Archie frowned, making sure his pout was perfected.

Veronica Snarled at Betty. "Archiekins, lets get out of this dump. Betty and Jarhead are here."

He looked bewildered. "You mean Jughead?" Betty chuckled.

"It's Just as stupid." Veronica said, before storming out with her hand firmly around Archie's wrist.

As Betty sat back down on the table, I had to ask what Archiekins meant.

"Archiekins?" I asked.

"Yeah. It's what she calls him when she want to control him. She'd probably call you 'Juggiekins'." She smiled.

"Of course, it wouldn't work on me." I grinned.

"Yeah, right, Juggiekins." She joked, and it was pretty cute, to be honest.

I then took a sip of my milkshake, in Strawberry, my favorite flavor.

~Betty's POV:~

I called Archie later that night, And I was sure he was very intoxicated.

"Umm, Archie? Are you drunk..?"

No answer.

"Archie?"

No Answer.

"ARCHIE ANDREWS?!"

"There, there, Betty. I finally got rid of him for you..."

"Who is this?"

"..." It was breathing heavily. "The black hood."

She gasped, and quickly called Jughead.

"Juggie!"

She could tell she woke him up, but he was trying his hardest.

"...What?" he answered, in a gruff voice.

"He got Archie..." She burst out crying.

He sat up as fast as he could. "Who!?"

"The Black Hood number 2!"

"Wasn't the black hood Hal?" He said.

"Well obviously not!"

"I'm coming over. Now. Where are you?"

"My room. Archie was drugged, Jug."

"What?"

"He was drugged."

"We will figure his out later. Right now, I'm coming over. Five minutes. Your mom is still on the business trip, correct?"

"...Yeah?"

"Wait by the front door."

 **A/N: Wow! Plot twist! If you like Archie, this is definitely not for you, if you haven't noticed. And Veronica, For that matter.**

 **Reviews are appreciated.**

-Sophie


	6. A kiss you share with a person who cares

Chapter 5

~Betty's POV~

Jughead got to my house in five seconds flat. He's really good at arriving on time, even though he is known for being the kid who doesn't care. Does he only arrive on time for me? Surely not..? Anyways, once he got to my house, I fell into his arms, crying so, so hard.

Sure, Archie was almost worst than Chuck Clayton himself, but I had been dating him for the past six months.

I can care, dammit. Especially if he is dead. Archie sucked. But I said I loved him. That counted. Which I was having second thoughts about, now that I stared into the boys glazed eyes. The boy I 'loved' was right in front of me. (a/n the reason it's in quotations is because she wasn't ready to admit it)

Jughead and I hugged in the same spot, crying, for almost ten minutes. I had never seen him cry, but death was something you were aloud to cry about, right? I let go of him. I didn't want to get his shirt dirty. He sat down on the couch, and put his hands on his face, making it look like he was drying away the tears, but it was actually letting him cry alone for a second. I sat next to him as he moved his hands from his face to his hair. He no longer had his hat on, because I could tell I woke him up. He was pulling his had through his hair, almost trying to make himself think. Then his eyes lit up, obviously showing he had an idea, or point of action.

"We can not tell the police. You know that, right?" He asked me, a bit gruff, like he still wasn't quite ready o talk after crying.

"Of course I know that. We figured it out the last two times, well, more like I caught The Black Hood, but you were almost killed by the Ghoulies during that situation..."

"Don't remind me." (a/n everything in the shows storyline happened in this except pretty much the whole Archie/Betty/Jughead storyline. Especially the friendship rekindling of Archie's and Jughead's relationship, and, of course, Bughead.)

"Sorry, just saying. So no Sheriff Minetta?"

"Not a chance. He's working with Hiram. We can't trust him. We can't trust Veronica either, Betty."

"I didn't anyway. The Pop's incident, Remember?"

"Oh, right. Anyway..."

"What?" I said, but in response, he just seemed to gaze into my eyes for a second, and we just stared off into each other's eyes for a bit, before he put his finger at the bottom of my chin, and pulled me into a kiss. For a small, fleeting moment, I was happy, content. We sat there, kissing, for only a couple seconds, and I was happy with that. But then, I remembered something. Somewhere where Archie might be. The Motel 6 in the Southside. I pulled away from him and whispered,

"The Motel!"

He smiled. "That's what your thinking about in the middle of our moment?"

I gasped. "No! The Motel, I remember last month, before we caught the black hood, he said that if he ever, ever got into trouble with the black hood, that he'd always go there. Always."

He sighed, fatigued from running around town all day. "Come on. I'll give you a ride. Just give me instructions, even though I may know the one."

"Thank you, Juggie. After this, we may have as many 'moments' as possible."

~Jughead's POV~

I smiled, delighted from the kiss I just had with the love of my life. She is so much better than me. I was sure she'd find another guy very quickly, but, I'm gong to relish this time with her as much as possible.

Five minutes later, after much hassling to get me to drive, we rode off into the Southside, going to the Motel 6 in the very same neighborhood as Sunnyside Trailer Park. As I drove past the trailer park I'd been living in just until recently, I frowned, knowing my father, FP Jones, was somewhere in that trailer, passed out. Or in the White Wyrm, also passed out. I resented my father. He bullied me, not only physically, but mentally as well. A single tear rolled down my eye as I thought of his bad parenting, I guess you could call it.

"Juggie? Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Just thinking about Archie." She could tell I was lying, just like I could tell she was lying.

"Yeah. Sure. Are you sure it's not about your dad?"

How did she know? "No. It's not. I swear."

"Okay, fine. I surrender. "

And before we knew it, we were there. In the parking lot of a certain Motel 6.


	7. Parents suck sometimes

(a/n sorry for my poor writing... I'm a young child, so, I'm currently working on my sucky writing, but I'm working on it! I don't like constructive criticism because I take things too personally, so, here's the chapter! I will also work on my POV's because I heard that i messed them up often)

Chapter 6

~Betty's POV~

"Archie! Oh my god! Archie! Where are you!?" I whisper-yelled as I ran throughout the motel.

To get through the motel was a pain, because I didn't have a room and I had to tell the secretary I was a guest. She was really annoying.

Jughead was hopelessly following behind me. He seemed so confused, but determined anyway.

"Just in case we don't find him, where do we go? You're the one who's been dating him for the past six months," Jughead questioned, making sure not to sound to pushy or stressed out.

"I honestly don't know... What are we going to do, Juggie?" I burst out into tears, because I knew that The Black Hood liked to torture his 'clients' before he killed them, that meant that Archie probably still out there, tied up, waiting to die.

"Shh, it's okay, Betty. I understand your pain, but we all have to get over a death at some point in our life, so it's good to get over it early so you can be stronger in the morning," He said, wiping away my extra tears.

"You don't understand... I knew him more than most people. He didn't know me back, but I paid attention. I knew he was up to something, but his feelings were just as important as everyone elses. You just don't understand. You just don't," I was balling my eyes out at this point, and he was there. And, honestly, those were the only two things that mattered to me. Archie dying, and Jughead Jones. Just Jughead. In general.

He then whispered, "We should keep looking,"

I stretched up, knowing we should look for him, and this was urgent, but I realized how tired I was. I leaned against the wall, tears still in my eyes,

"Wow, you're really tired," he noticed, almost chuckling.

"I mean, yeah. It's almost one in the morning, and I've been looking for a dead person for the last hour and a half." I winced, realizing my mom was going to kill me.

"Yeah. I barely get any sleep any way though."

"I can not survive with less than eight hours every night." Then I noticed I was getting four hours tonight.

"... I should get home. Sorry, Jughead. I know your lonely throughout all of your all-nighters, but I can't possibly do it, you know me."

"Oh, it's fine, I do it all the time. This is the first time you have actually cared."

"I am sorry, Jug. Archie was just so manipulative, I could not pay any attention to anything else at that point, like your supportiveness throughout this 'adventure' with Archie."

"Yeah. It's fine. Anyway, we were talking about home, right?"

"Yeah, sorry for getting carried away. I' m pretty good at that you know, I-"

He put his finger to my mouth, and I understood what he meant. He let go after about five seconds.

"Yeah, sorry, lets go."

On the walk to my house he seemed pretty quiet, compared to my blabbering on and on about nothing. I'd say pretty different ways to handle stress.

He waved me goodbye at the door. I waved back, with, what I'd say as a neutral gaze, as he was neutral as well.

I went to bed and laid there for a couple hours.

I didn't sleep at all that night, with all that Archie drama. Whatever, I said to myself. Who cares if that monster dies. He slapped me, said I wasn't good enough, yet I still cared. Why? Why me? Of all people? I got up, and I walked down into the kitchen, and saw my mother standing at the island. I rubbed my face.

"Mom? Why are you awake? It's, like, three in the morning."

"Because I heard about that Andrews boy. Was that the one you fell for?"

Okay. That was weird. She should not have known that yet. It had not been leaked yet.

"Yes, mom."

"Okay. I'm glad he's dead, then. He hurt my daughter. And for that, I hate him."

"Wait- you knew?" That's two things she knew, that no one else, did about Archie... "About the abuse? Why didn't you help? Mom, I had to build my self-esteem up by myself everyday. You just sat there?! You could've helped, you know! I hurt myself because of the stress he caused me early on!"

"Yeah. I wanted you to learn from your actions. I didn't get training, and I fell in love with Hal Cooper. It helps."

"Yeah, right. No one knows this except you, correct? Jughead, my best friend, doesn't even know. Okay? Never happened."

"Elizabeth, I get it. No one knows. I understand."

"Good. Mom, I am tired. I am going to bed now."

"Sure, honey."

Again, I can't sleep. The Black Hood is out there, and he can't be my father because mt dad is in prison for the rest of his life. I could be a victim this time. Jughead could die. My mom could leak my story. She could be The Black Hood, because no one knew what they looked like this time.

~Jughead's POV~

I can't stay at Archie's house. It's not like I'm best friends with Fred Andrews. I could go home? It was better than staying out in the cold weather, but not by much. I know he doesn't care whether I was there or not, but I hope he might notice in general.

I think it's probably the best option that I go to see my dad. He may not care about my well being, but at least it's a roof to sleep under.

~5 minutes later~

I knock hard on the door, assuming he's probably passed out. But as soon as I knock, the door opens, and it's FP, of course. The look on his face was heart lifting. A look like he wanted to care. But I'm not making this assumption right after seeing his face for the first time in three months.

"H-hey, dad," I say.

"Boy! It's been a while! I haven't seen you in what? Three months? Wow. That's a long time, Huh?"

"Yeah..." I am very obviously off put by his niceness.

"No hug for your old man?"

"Umm...-"

He immediately pulls me into a hug. I don't know what to do. I have never had a father figure, other than Fred, but he's a god compared to my dad.

"I'm sorry I never cared about you, son. I was a terrible father, and I just broke and started drinking whenever there was a problem in my life."

"Why do you care all of a sudden then?"

"Well, It all started when your mother called me and told me she moved on. That was no surprise, I let her because she hurt you. I, of course, let her, but that's beside the point. I then realized how horrible my life was compared to hers now. Then you left. That started a downward spiral, so, I started Rehab and Therapy because I needed to let all my issues out. Including the Serpents. Don't join a gang, son."

"Yeah. I had you as a role model remember? This is what I thought would happen to me if I did," I reasoned.

"Yeah. I know. Just saying. Anyway, we should get inside for the rest of the story,"

He led me inside, and I was honestly surprised. I was tidy. Almost clean.

"Anyway, I started Therapy, and Rehab. I knew I had problems, so I wanted to fix them. Haven't had a drink since. Any questions?"

"Yeah, Three months? Wow. That's a new height for you, dad. Anyway, when did you clean up? before I left it was a shithole."

"Yeah, It was. After my third session of therapy, I was told that a place where it all happened is a trigger for the past, so I rearranged everything, so it wouldn't remind me of your mother, or your sister. I threw out anything that was merely related to their presence.'

"Wow, dad, I gotta give it to ya. You really tried. Did you leave my room?"

"Of Course, son. I even cleaned it up for you."

"Did you throw away all of the pictures of me and Jelly?"

"No, of course not. I know you would hate me for life if I did," He stated. That was true.

"Okay, I'm going to go to sleep, dad."

"Yeah, night, son."

"I walked n to my room and flopped onto my bed and was confused. Just laying there, wondering why Archie existed and why my dad suddenly was the nicest guy.

I did not sleep.

I.

Could.

Get.

Killed.

A/N: I really tried on this one! I made it extra long for you guys, to make up for my short chapters in the past.

(This is mostly not edited)


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